Mary Grace Cox and the Future of Sepsis Care
Overview
In this Becker’s Healthcare podcast episode, Mary Grace Cox, Senior Director of Clinical Programs at UAB Medicine, discusses how her team is reshaping sepsis care through stronger systems, culture change, and thoughtfully integrated technology. She explains why improving sepsis outcomes isn’t just about clinical knowledge, but it’s about building processes that support clinicians, uncover variation in real time, and make early detection more reliable. A central part of that effort is the Sepsis DART™ tool, which enables UAB to move from isolated improvement efforts to a culture of continuous readiness.
Key Themes and Takeaways
- Better sepsis outcomes come from strong systems that support clinicians.
Mary Grace emphasizes that clinicians already know how to treat sepsis. The real need is reliable workflows, clear processes, and supportive structures that make early recognition and timely treatment consistent across every patient situation.
“Clinicians already know how to treat sepsis. The challenge is doing it reliably, every time, in different situations.”
- Real-time, integrated technology like the Sepsis DART™ enables continuous readiness.
The Sepsis DART™ helps teams spot variation as it happens, providing actionable insights without disrupting workflow. Its seamless integration into tools clinicians already use, like Cerner and Vocera, makes adoption easier and reinforces a culture of ongoing improvement rather than one-off initiatives.
“DART™ lets us see variation as it happens, not just after the fact. That’s a game changer.”
- Trust, adaptability, and clinician support drive meaningful change.
Frontline buy-in came from showing how the technology actually lightens clinicians’ workload. By pairing ease of use with continuous feedback loops, UAB has improved collaboration, strengthened compliance efforts, and kept patient outcomes at the center, all by ensuring clinicians feel supported.